Team Perdu
by Drawn2Danger
Summary: Atem never thought he'd have to put his assassin's uniform back on. Then again, he never thought his two sons, Yugi and Yami, would be taken from him either. Now with their lives in danger, Atem will have to bring his team back together in order to save them.


Atem was seriously beginning to think that he was starting to become "the old man" that Bakura frequently referred to him as. Hell, he used to have missions that didn't involve as much exercise as the two against one soccer game his sons had roped him into. He could hardly run around the field for twenty minutes without feeling completely winded. It only reminded him that he was horribly out of shape, and maybe it would be a good idea to start using the gym membership Mai had signed him up for last March.

Of course, the winter cold air could also be part of the reason why Atem's joints were feeling a little more stiff than usual. He tried loosening them up by doing some simple stretches, but was told by his oldest son, Yami, to get his head back in the game. Atem grinned and dusted off some grass from his sweatpants before returning to the middle of the field.

Already waiting for him there was his younger son, Yugi. His baby boy (who technically wasn't a baby anymore) was rolling up the sleeves of his blue and black sports jacket, claiming that all the running around was making him hot. Atem didn't see how that was possible, considering it was around forty degrees out, but he let the nine-year-old have his way, like always. Yes, he had a tendency to be a little slack when it came to what Yugi should and shouldn't do, but hey, the kid was mature for his age, so he hardly needed correcting anyways. His older brother on the other hand…

"Dad, are you going to start the game or what? I'm freezing my butt off just standing here."

Yami pointedly nudged the soccer ball that sat in-between them and then hurried over to Yugi, telling him to play defense for this round. Yugi nodded in compliance and ran backwards to take a spot in front of his and Yami's goal. He rested his hands on his knees and waited for his dad to kick off.

Atem could see the competitive spirit burning in both of his sons eyes and instantly knew that this game was going to be a good one. They were going to try their hardest to score against him, but he wasn't going to go easy on them. After all, he was the one they got their competitive spirit from in the first place.

"Blue forty-two-" Atem shouted, planting his left foot forward and his right foot back.

"Dad… that's football…"

"-set, hike!"

Atem slammed his laces against the ball, sending it flying all the way back to where Yugi was standing at the ready. The smaller boy stopped it from rolling, started running with it, and then made a predictable pass to Yami.

"Midfield, Yugi!" Yami managed to shout before he took off with the ball, using all the natural speed he was born with to get away from Atem. He avoided doing any tricks for the sake of showing off, and darted straight for Atem's unguarded goal. Atem let him burn most of his energy off before he intercepted him, gaining control of the ball. He immediately pivoted and kicked it to get it away from his side of the field. However, he kicked it a little further than intended, and Yugi, who had gone to the middle of the field like Yami told him to, was already there waiting.

"Attaboy, Yugi!" Yami cheered, despite being out of breath. "Bring it here!"

"Get open you dummy!" Yugi yelled back as he started to dribble the ball.

Atem marveled at how fast Yugi was and how he managed to keep the ball from going too far out in front of him. He knew that Yugi had begged Yami to teach him how to keep control of the ball like that. He knew because he watched the two of them practicing in the back yard for nearly two weeks straight. Yugi was determined to get it right because soccer was one of the only sports he could actually play. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite built for most sports. He wasn't nearly tall enough for basketball, not big enough for football, and could hardly pick up a bat, let alone hit a baseball with one. But those variables didn't matter in soccer. All he had to do was be able to kick a ball and run. And yeah, Yugi had short legs, but he was only running in short bursts of speed, he wasn't running long distance.

"What's the matter, Dad? Your cleats glued to the ground or something?"

Yami's teasing brought him back to the present, and it was with slight horror that he realized Yugi had passed him moments ago without his knowing. Mentally smacking himself for spacing out, Atem bolted after his two sons, somehow already knowing that he probably wouldn't make it in time. Yugi had kicked the ball off to Yami, who was using his Speedy Gonzales speed to tear down the field.

"Hurry, Yami!" Yugi squealed in anxious excitement. "He's coming!"

Yami let loose some strange cackle and picked up his pace. It was unneeded since the distance between him and Atem was so large, but Yami didn't seem to care. He got all the way to the goalie box before he started to slow down a little, preparing to send the ball flying. Yugi continued to cheer as Yami kicked the ball for a final time, launching it through the air, and successfully knocking it against the back of the net.

"We win!" Yami proclaimed with his hands thrown in the air. He used his momentum to swivel around to face his brother.

Yugi tackled Yami in a hug. They clapped each other on the backs, congratulating each other for their victory. Atem laughed tiredly at their antics and simply fell over onto his back in defeat. He breathed in the cold air and tried to bring his heartbeat back to normal, but was distracted by his sons' conversation.

"You blew right past him and he didn't even notice!" Yami said.

"I know," Yugi said, amazed. "Do you think he was having a heart attack?"

Atem snorted while Yami corrected his brother for his naivety. "Dad eats too many apples to have a heart attack! Besides, people don't just stand there when they have a heart attack. They go like this." He clutched at his chest dramatically and made a show of stumbling around onto the floor. "Ow my heart, my heart! It's dying!" His whole body then went slack.

Yugi laughed and pounced on his brother, thus leading to a wrestling match. The two rolled around on top of each other for a few minutes before Atem decided to tell them to knock it off.

"Come on," he said, pulling himself onto his feet. "I don't know about you guys, but I could really go for some hot chocolate right about now."

"But we ran out of marshmallows the other day," Yugi pouted. He refused to drink hot chocolate without them.

"Yeah, we should go get some more before we go home. Ooh, but let's get those really big ones! The ones that take up the whole cup!" Yami emphasized.

Atem slung his arms around their shoulders and began to walk towards the car. He held them close to warm them up from the cold and smiled when they wrapped their arms around him in return.

"I guess we could make a quick pit stop before heading home. But hey, marshmallows is all we're getting, okay? We're not getting chips, or ice cream, or renting any movies."

Yugi whined, "Why not?"

Atem grinned smugly. "Because I said so."

"Well sometimes what you say is wrong," Yami pointed out.

"Yes, but this isn't one of those times."

"Spoilsport…" Yami sighed in exasperation.

Atem just grinned and pulled them closer, unaware that it would be one of the last times he would hold them so close for a long time.

* * *

A/N - What a surprise! I'm not dead! Ha, but really, it's been a long time since I've made any sort of contact on this account. I got lost in schoolwork for a bit, so that's mainly why I've been gone. But I also lost interest in this fandom for a bit. I'm not really into pairing the characters together anymore, so I don't know if I'll ever return to doing slash stories.

**By the way, since I'm American, I say soccer instead of football. Whenever I mentioned football in the story, I was talking about American football.** Anyways, let me know what you think about this story in a review. I'm writing this story as practice. I'm working on writing about family relationships and intense scenes with a splash of action in them. Hope I'm starting off okay.


End file.
